


Synchronicity

by curiouscorvid (prometheanTactician)



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Sign Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-15 07:59:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13026678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prometheanTactician/pseuds/curiouscorvid
Summary: Jonathan needed a distraction. Edward knew that by now. When he got like this it was because he was lost in thoughts that disturbed him and memories that upset him and he was doing all he could to simultaneously not express his distress and try to push everything out of his mind. Usually, the fix for such a thing would be for Edward to join him on the couch and ramble at him about anything that came to mind. Anything to distract him. He just needed his attention to be dragged away from whatever was pulling him down.





	Synchronicity

**Author's Note:**

> For my good, good friend Eddie ♥

Sometimes, their brains just didn’t match up. Sometimes, Edward’s anxiety spiked on days when Jon’s empathy dropped. Sometimes, they had their own sorts of breakdowns at the same time and were incapable of helping each other. Sometimes, Jon’s hands were shaking far too badly to safely make hot chocolate for Edward when he was upset. Sometimes Edward was completely non-verbal when Jon needed reassurance and comfort. Generally, they made their way through such times and picked each other up after the fact.

This time, Edward didn’t think that was enough. Mostly because he knew he was capable of doing more. Perhaps he was non-verbal that night, but he wasn’t feeling all that badly. He had energy, he was feeling productive and vibrant, getting things done and sorting things around the apartment. Jonathan was quite the opposite. He’d been sat in the exact same position for hours by that point, a book in his lap that he did not seem to notice as he stared vacantly into space. Whenever Jon failed to take notice of a book that was a sure signal that Ed should start worrying.

Jonathan needed a distraction. Edward knew that by now. When he got like this it was because he was lost in thoughts that disturbed him and memories that upset him and he was doing all he could to simultaneously not express his distress and try to push everything out of his mind. Usually, the fix for such a thing would be for Edward to join him on the couch and ramble at him about anything that came to mind. Anything to distract him. He just needed his attention to be dragged away from whatever was pulling him down. But Edward could not speak that night. Despite all he had gotten done and all the productive energy he felt he had, the mere idea of opening his mouth and forming words exhausted him in a way he could not entirely fathom. It felt as if it would drain from his very soul, just trying to force those sounds into something coherent. Perhaps he could drag the words from his throat, but it would only leave him worse for wear and incapable of helping Jonathan properly, and Jon would scold him for pushing himself too far once he came back to himself. “You cannot take care of others at the expense of yourself,” he would say.

And so Edward simply stared, leaning against the kitchen counter and looking over the half-wall into the sitting room. Jon was so still. He could be a corpse, if it weren’t for the occasional blink. He wasn’t even doing that as often as he should, Edward noted. He would strain his eyes. Give himself a headache. Somehow, that was what spurred Edward into action. Perhaps he could not speak, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t do anything at all.

There was no acknowledgment when he sat next to his lover. No movement, no glance. Jon had no idea he was there. Did Jon even know where he was himself? Did he think he was back in Arkham? Back in university? Back in Georgia? Edward had no way to know. Jonathan did nothing better than completely closing off to the world around him, letting nothing through. It was his greatest skill, and Edward’s greatest cause for concern. Edward looked at his own hands, considering his plan. It would be no good at all if he couldn’t pull Jon’s attention to him in the first place. But he couldn’t do nothing. So he did something incredibly risky instead.

He took Jonathan’s hands.

There was no flinch. No sudden jerk or jumping out of his skin. Jonathan did not even glance down at the contact. It was as if he couldn’t even feel it. Still, Edward was not deterred. Gently, carefully, he began to move Jon’s limp hands and shape them the way he needed. Jon would not notice if Edward were to sign at him at the moment, but perhaps the signs formed with his own hands would get through. He started small. Started simple. Something Jon would recognize in his sleep.

_Hello._

No reaction. Edward tried again. The thing Jon signed at him the most often.

_Are you okay?_

There was a slow blink, followed by a few more in quick succession. Professor Crane wasn’t there just yet, but Edward was in the process of making an appointment.

_J-O-N-A-T-H-A-N._

Edward formed the letters slowly, deliberately. He loved the feeling of Jon’s hands, loved the long fingers and chilled skin, but mostly he just wanted to give Jon’s mind time to take in the movements and their meaning. His fingers twitched after the name was spelled out, and Edward released them as his hands began to sign sluggishly on their own.

_E-D-W-A-R-D._

An acknowledgment. Edward’s smile could have lit up the room for how bright it was. He took Jon’s hands again, as the mans bright eyes still stared out at nothing.

_Can you look at me?_

He dragged his fingers gently across the back of Jon’s hands as he pulled his own back, giving Jon space to respond. It took a moment. Jon was thinking over his answer, which meant he was thinking of things other than whatever was bothering him. He started to sign something. Stopped. Tried again, movements stilted. Edward, for once in his life, was patient. He had never been the sort of man who could remain idle, but it seemed he had an endless well of patience for this man. When Jon’s hands stopped completely and did not move again, Edward took them in his own once more.

_It’s okay if you can’t. We can talk like this._

A nod. A small, quick nod, but a nod nonetheless. Things were progressing well, and Edward was delighted with how smoothly his experiment was going. He didn’t sign anything else right away, just held Jon’s hands in his own and smoothed his thumbs over them gently. Jon’s eyes shut lightly for a moment, taking in the feeling, trying to focus on it. Such sensation was a good way to ground himself, if it was from Edward specifically. No one else was allowed to lay a hand on him.

_Would you like me to just talk about something?_

Again, Jon’s response was delayed, but it did eventually come in tense signs.

_Yes, please. Anything._

And so he did. He talked about anything and everything, signing with Jon’s hands in his own, slower than he usually would. In regular circumstances, his hands would be a blur and hardly possible to follow. As it was, he moved Jon’s hands with regard for both the things he was saying and the weight of movement, hoping it would help pull Jon from where ever his mind had taken him. Jon’s eyes slid shut more and more often as Edward went on, but it didn’t seem as if he were falling asleep. It more so seemed as though he were just taking in what was happening, what Edward was doing. His mouth began to move almost inperceptively, silently muttering the words Edward was signing with his hands.

They passed an hour like that, sitting together, Edward shaping Jon’s hands to speak to him and Jon slowly, very slowly, coming back to himself and to the man sitting with him. Eventually, after another moment with his eyes shut, Jon opened them and turned his bright, brilliant gaze to meet Edward’s own at last. He was greeted with a slow, fond smile, and his own lips twitched just slightly. It was as close as he could get to returning the expression at the moment. Edward gave his hands a squeeze before signing once more.

_I love you._

He held the shape in Jon’s hand for a long moment, before letting it fall away. He lifted the hand to his lips and pressed a loving kiss to the back of his knuckles. Jon’s fingers finally moved on their own, squeezing the hands holding his own. Then he slipped his hand out of Edward’s and signed on his own in return.

_I love you too._


End file.
